I know, there isn't much chance that the A380 will crash at the first test flight BUT what if it does....? Imagine, what would be the consequences for Airbus, the orders of the A380 etc?? I'm really curious at this. In how far Airbus will get a bad name? Will airliners cancel their orders? Etc.

that 330 was an interesting one. it was testing for a low speed, low energy takeoff, but the auto flight control was not set appropriately and it crashed just after takeoff, within the airport perimeter. it was however a very extreme test case - low power, low speed, very steep climb angle etc...

thats why they havent announced a flight test date in fact... they dont want to be rushed. only when everything is ready and spotless. in fact such is the care and planning and perfection going into it that i think it would almost be boring...

these days you already see almost-real digital impressions way before the first flight, so the first flight is not such an awe striking event.

Hey, FJWH, what's happening today with you? You posted first a topic about if a plane is hijcked in a flight from London to New York, now you post this about if an A380 crashes in test flights....bad day at work?

The amount of training done before the first flight, particularly on the simulator, is huge. If it were to happen, although extremely unlikely, I should think the project would still go ahead based on the amount of commitment for the A380 alone... and provided the cause of the crash was something that could easily be repaired.

Once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned forever skyward

It mainly depends on how the crash will look and what the networks will make of it. A crash at the airport for all the invités to see and readily videod and broadcasted worldwide will be the ultimate PR nightmare. Video's of the burning Concorde and the graphic photos of the DC-10 at Chicago plus the story about the passengers seeing their own crash on the on board moviescreen basically killed further service or sales respectively of these aircraft. Also the widely broadcasted Sept. 11 and Airbus 320 crashes have made many people scared.
But if there is no clear or graphic footage of it widely available, like the A-330 testflight, and the problem is fixed, not many people will care.

I think in the case of the 380 it is quite different to aircraft that have gone before. This is because of the increasing debate about the aircrafts size with so many passengers lives potentially at risk. Good question

During test flights, anything could go wrong, with any aircraft, that is why they are test flights. If something were to go wrong with the A380 (God forbid), Airbus would find the problem, correct the problem, & there would be no impact on aircraft sales, passengers have short term memories of aircraft incidents & even shorter memories if there is a sale on airline tickets.

LHR27C

Simulator time prior to a test flight would do nothing if there is an electrical problem or a computer failure...

As has been mentioned, several aircraft which went on to sell well crashed during the test program. Less dramatic problems are more common. The 727 #2 engine surged on rotation during the first test flight, and the 727 still has this problem sometimes, although it's occurence has been minimized by careful shaping of the S-duct. The problem was not revelaed to the public until well after the first flight though.

"There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots."

Yes, there have been problems on other test flights in the past, but with people being so paranoid after 9/11, and with the publicity the 380 is having, I think a crash would definitly have impact on the future sales of the 380.

Carp aunque ganes o pierdas ...

25 Burnsie28
: thats why they havent announced a flight test date in fact... they dont want to be rushed. only when everything is ready and spotless. in fact such is

26 BR715-A1-30
: If the A380 crashed during its first flight, I would make sure it never flew again. Ok, All Joking aside. I'm sure Airbus would launch an investigatio

27 N6376m
: The water from the on-board swimming pool would quickly extinguish the fire.

28 Bohica
: Don't forget that the prototype CRJ crashed during testing and look at how successful that program is.

29 Captoveur
: What if god and superman fought? I normally don't call a topic stupid, but this one really is.

30 AZjetgeek
: This thread is a waste of space, but I just had to toss in my two cents. As one poster already mentioned, this is why there are test flights. Pick up

31 ConcordeBoy
: Ok enough of my Mr Garrison impression ...actually, that'd be Mr. Mackey As far as the topic at hand: I'd say it could be pretty bad; the A380 will be

32 Starlionblue
: What's stupid about this topic apart from the silly detractors? Everyone seems to have something to say about it.

33 Sinlock
: From Post #9 if only you knew the amount of planning thats going into this... that's why they havent announced a flight test date in fact... they dont

34 Starlionblue
: after a 3 year R&D period the engine landed up missing it's fuel burn target by 11%. Ouch! That just proves that fluid dynamics are still very hard to

35 ConcordeBoy
: Pretty much the same thing happened for the PW4098... a derivative of a proven model that turned out to offer such horrible economics that all prospec

36 SLUAviator
: I don't like airplanes where the pilot can fly only with the permission of a computer. The A380 is a waste. Its to big, it weighs to much (Airbus did

37 777236ER
: I don't like airplanes where the pilot can fly only with the permission of a computer. The A380 is a waste. Its to big, it weighs to much (Airbus did

38 Whitehatter
: They will learn their mistake as they watch as the 7E7 dominates. Another idiotic comment. Thirty ton trucks and double decker buses don't sell as man